By themselves, WIG’s are incomplete, and this is precisely why they can lead to the inconsistent performance from team members or clients

People will step over what they need, to get what they want

This thought has always really stuck with me; the concept was initially introduced to me by a mentor when I was a trainer. You would see it every day; people come in broken equipped with a picture of their favorite IG model that they must look like to have a purpose. As a trainer, at this moment, it appears that you have one of two choices. You fix them, make them an absolute rockstar in the matter of movement, mastering their locomotion like a skillful sailor carefully guiding his ship through a rough sea. As a trainer, this is what we see so vividly as the obvious choice! The other option is to continue to watch their movement fall apart. You give them the workouts they want despite injury and fuel their fitness with encouraging thoughts such as “pain is weakness leaving the body” and “sweat is your fat crying.” As an expert in the field, you chose to give them what they need, keeping them safe, programming to get them to that next step, eventually making their IG dreams a reality. They train six sessions with you, pain-free, don’t renew their package then ghost you. What happened?

When I look at leadership, a similar hurdle is present with team members. You will hire someone or have a great meeting, during which time you uncover their why’s and collect their WIG’s (wildly important goals). You’ve arrived! It feels so good to have discovered these critical pieces of information because everything you’ve ever read about leadership tells you that now you’re in, the team will run better than ever and all problems a thing of the past. A few weeks go by; you start to notice low compliance, less joy, and poor performance. What happened?

In both of these instances, we have in our possession knowledge of their WIG’s which are typically made up of outcome goals. An outcome goal is simply the end goal, such as I want to be a CEO, I want to buy a house, I want to place 1st at a physique competition, or I want to lose 100 lbs. Outcome goals are so important, we have a strong emotional hold on them, and they are an indicator of connection and trust when shared with us. By themselves, WIG’s are incomplete, and this is precisely why they can lead to the inconsistent performance from team members or clients if not handled with care. I think we can all agree emotions can be quite unpredictable if we don’t feel clear or if someone betrays our trust.

Look back at the two examples, both of them know the WIG for their client or team member yet both ran into difficulty. This difficulty is a product of having in our possession someone’s trust and not helping them see the path more clearly by working together to set small benchmarks along the way. In their eyes, they know the end goal in this instance and have no concept of the process to get there. You will find this leaves them feeling like we are not committed to their growth because they are not there yet. While a first feel it’s easy for us to get defensive, but it’s not their fault. They feel we are not committed because there is no understanding of what their next step is. These next steps should be tied directly to their WIG, allowing them a more significant focus on the smaller benchmark goals. In other words, if we want to watch our team or client navigate their way to the next level, we must take the time and help them set meaningful short term goals. These goals should relate directly to the WIG they set. Process goals when placed together with your team or client sharpen specific skills, develop energy systems, groom movement patterns, challenge their level of discipline, or are designed give them a win gaining positive momentum towards their longterm goal.

I believe that you can choose not to peel back the layers and implement the process goal and still have an impact. You can always be a manager or trainer, but you can not be a coach or leader without going deep and moving with care empowering those by being a sherpa on their journey.

Always welcome the feed back friends!